Katelyn Brooke

2013 in Review

blogging· personal

31 Dec

I was honestly kind of dreading writing this post this year (which is saying a lot because I generally dork out over recaps.)  I felt like for documentation’s sake I needed to explain how hard this year has been.  I’ve been torn about what to keep to myself and what to share, what is authentic and what is optimistic.  But after thinking about it, I don’t think a dramatic introduction recounting how many funerals we attended is necessary.  In my 25 years I’ve lived a pretty charmed life.  This year was just harder than most.

But that doesn’t mean there weren’t plenty of good things that happened alongside the difficult.  So here it is, friends- 2013.  Or the version that I want to share here, in all its glory.

January

I set some intentions for the year in January that I honestly forgot about until I went to write this post, but I’m happy to say that I definitely  made progress on them.  I also made some major updates to my site and touched on the hard stuff.

02 February

February tends to be a productive month for me online, and 2013 was no exception.  I did the Creative Cleanse, blogged personal and design related Q & posts, and posted two 10 for 10 posts.  Brian and I also went to a few fancy law school functions.

March

In March we went to Florida, celebrated my mom’s 50th birthday, and I published my first Bloggers You Don’t Want to Be post.

April

We soaked up Spring in April, had some visitors (including a trip to Safari Park), and at the end of the month my grandfather passed away.

May

Things got kinda crazy with work in May, but we also had two graduations to attend and I ran in two races!

June

In June we went to a friend’s wedding in Charlottesville, I went home to teach at Summer in the Arts, and my baby brother graduated from high school!  Busy busy.

July

I took a blog break in July.  I actually have a full recap of that month already on the blog, but we celebrated Fourth of July by ourselves in Lexington, Brian turned 27, and Brian studied for (and took!) the bar.  And at the end of the month, my grandmother passed away.

August

We went to the beach with my family in August and we moved out of our first apartment.  We house sat, celebrated our second wedding anniversary, and went to concerts.

September

In September I went to the beach with my mom and my aunt, we brought home Griffin, and I traveled to Palm Springs.  I started Lettered Letters and posted my first Desktop Ditty.

October

I turned 25 in October, I went to North Carolina for Making Things Happen, and we went to Charlottesville for Homecoming.

November

November was insane for work, in a good way.  We ate a record number of Thanksgiving dinners this year, and we started preparing for the holidays.

12 December

December was busy in all the usual ways.  But all in all, lots to be thankful for.

Fun Facts:

Most read post: How to Make the Most of Pinterest (although this post actually got the most traffic!)

Biggest traffic month: Honestly?  January.

Top referral site: Pinterest

Twitter: 1353 followers (643 more than last year),

Pinterest: 7552 followers (6050 more than last year), 4855 pins (that means 898 this year) and 36 boards (only 1 new one this year)

Facebook: 689 likes (379 more than last year)

Instagram: 261 posts this year, 1021 followers (828 more than last year)

Finally, I just want to thank all of you who read my blog or have supported me this year.  It means so much to me and I am continually grateful for you.  Wishing all of you (especially those of you who made it this far!) a very Happy New Year!

If you wrote a year in review post, leave the link in the comments- I LOVE reading them!  Here are my year in review posts for 2012 and 2011.

12 Comments

« Chrissi Shields
Into January »

Comments

  1. Erin says

    December 31, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    What a busy year! Sorry to hear it’s been a rough one for you. Hope 2014 will treat you better!

    I did a recap here: http://www.erineflynn.com/2013-in-review/ though Bluehost seems to want to not work at the moment… =\

    Reply
  2. Allyssa says

    December 31, 2013 at 2:01 pm

    I love these recap posts! You might have just convinced me to do one…

    I’m sorry 2013 was such a difficult year. Here’s hoping that 2014 turns out to be better!

    Happy New Year!

    Reply
  3. Tasha says

    December 31, 2013 at 2:12 pm

    A year of ups, downs and lovely photography – hope 2014 brings you less of the bad and more of the good!

    You can find my reflection of 2013 here (if you fancy a read): http://graphiquefantastique.com/2013/12/31/2013-reflection-the-year-of-change/

    Reply
  4. Sarah says

    December 31, 2013 at 2:29 pm

    I’m sorry 2013 was a rough one for you, but here’s to a happy, sparkly 2014! Let me know the next time you’re in Charlottesville – blogger meet up!

    I wrote a recap post here: http://backhomeblue.com/year-in-review-2/

    HostGator is having some issues at the moment, but hopefully its temporary. :)

    Reply
  5. Kirsten says

    December 31, 2013 at 3:48 pm

    This recap post is especially authentic and impressive. I feel for you — I lost two grandparents in one year, too. It’s hard, but it brings your family that much closer together. Wish you and Brian the very best in 2014. It sounds like 2013 was still pretty awesome, regardless. Hope you have a fun New Year’s Eve tonight to celebrate.

    Reply
  6. Kory says

    December 31, 2013 at 5:04 pm

    Honestly, I’ve been in the same exact boat on what to share. I have this feeling that I want to be more transparent with my readers, but some things ( most things, probably ) are too sacred to share so publicly. It’s so hard what to decide!

    You can check out my review post here: http://bit.ly/1ckhcmg and what I learned this year here: http://bit.ly/1d3lAqH :)

    Reply
  7. Caroline says

    January 1, 2014 at 8:52 am

    Sorry 2013 was hard, but wishing you the best in 2014!

    Reply
  8. Eliza says

    January 1, 2014 at 3:32 pm

    This is my favorite recap I’ve seen around the blogosphere! You’re such a light and I’m so glad we’re friends. xoxoxoxo

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Into January says:
    January 2, 2014 at 3:31 pm

    […] you guys so much for you sweet comments on yesterday’s post.  It’s hard not to feel optimistic about the coming year when you have a community like you […]

    Reply
  2. Starred this Week says:
    January 3, 2014 at 4:51 pm

    […] My recap for 2013. […]

    Reply
  3. Starred this Week says:
    December 13, 2014 at 12:00 pm

    […] This will likely be the last normal post on here for 2014, though you may see me back for a yearly recap, because I do like […]

    Reply
  4. 2014 in Review says:
    December 31, 2014 at 6:33 pm

    […] post, leave the link in the comments- I LOVE reading them!  Here are my year in review posts for 2013, 2012, and […]

    Reply

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